S.A.’s Oscar viewing drops, but critiques positive

Does this year’s Oscars show deserve a “best of” award of its own, according to S.A. viewers?

Yes, at least that’s what I’ve gleaned from the mainly positive feedback I’ve received to Sunday’s TV event hosted by Hugh Jackman and which featured all kinds of tweaks and changes this go-round.

However, local ratings for the Academy Awards were down from last year, reported ABC affiliate KSAT.

Though the show won the timeslot, the broadcast drew a mere 23 percent of S.A. homes watching TV, while last year’s Oscars garnered 29 percent. (ABC affiliate spokesman David Cuccio expects the total to grow when the homes that recorded the broadcast are factored in.)

Nationally, the story was much brighter. Audience numbers were significantly up compared to last year’s broadcast. According to Nielsen, 36.3 million viewers tuned in vs. the 32 million who watched in 2008  a 13 percent increase.

The highlight of the changed format? S.A. viewers particularly enjoyed the group presentations of the acting awards; you know, when five former winners stood on stage to praise each of the nominees individually.

The effect: No matter who won the statuette, there were no losers, only winners, in the room.

First-time nominee Anne Hathaway, for instance, both wept and looked as if she were about to pop out of her skin with joy when Shirley MacLaine gave her performance in “Rachel Getting Married”  and other of her turns onscreen  the big rave.

Leighton Chapman, S.A.’s former film commissioner, agreed: “I loved the way they presented actor awards, giving each his or her ‘due’.” However, he thought the song-and-dance number featuring Jackman and Beyoncé was “unnecessary.”

On the down side, the San Antonio ratings for the Academy awards did drop, according to ABC affiliate KSAT. The biggest weakness of the awards, according to feedback I got? The speeches were rather lackluster; no one could come up with a huge moment involving an acting recipient.

However, it was nice to read several critics single out the speech by Dustin Lance Black, who grew up in San Antonio and received the best screenplay Oscar for “Milk.” In Monday’s USA Today, Robert Bianco singled out Black’s speech as one of the few really emotional moments: “A highlight was ‘Milk’ screenwriter Dustin Lance Black’s plea for gay rights (which no doubt drove ABC nuts).”

Bianco also reminded us that the true heroes behind some of the nice changes on the broadcast were the new AA producers: the two fellows behind “Dreamgirls” and many other fab movies: Bill Condon and Laurence Mark.

Jeanne Jakle’s column appears Wednesdays and Fridays in S.A. Life and Sundays in TV Now. jjakle@express-news.net